


exit wounds

by AslansCompass



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Post-Episode: s05e14 The Devil Complex, post 5x14
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 19:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14142948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AslansCompass/pseuds/AslansCompass
Summary: May takes care of her team after 5x14 "The Devil Complex." Fic and chapter titles from "Exit Wounds" by The Script.





	1. scars you're keeping

knees pressed against her chin. Rift monitor in right hand, checking and double-checking. It's gone. Gone. No fear dimension. No monster. _(the monster is already loose)_ stitches itch,  _scratch pull remove no_ ,  but her hands are still shaking. shaking. her hands and the room and the whole base.... it's too late, they're back in the loop, the infinite circle.  This is how it ends.  

"....cracked like an egg"

"Quake, the Destroyer of Worlds,"

can't change time, can't change anything

"Daisy?"

Daisy, not Quake. Presses her fingers to her face, wishing wishing wishing to find the inhibitor. not quake. Never quake. Daisy, yes, Skye, yes. 

Not Quake.

"Daisy."

Daisyitsmayimalone.

She has to separate the words, taking each syllable and slowing it down against her pounding heartbeat.

Daisyitsmay. Imalone.

Daisy. It's. May. I'm. Alone.

Daisy, it's May. I'm alone.

"May?"

"Daisy," the older agent repeats. 

"May," the shaking intensifies. "May," she tries again, but can only manage the one syllable.

"I'm here." 

Daisy keeps staring at the pad. The rift closed. It's not a trick. Something brushes her left shoulder. Her right arm reflexively slaps. 

May. Ohgodohgodmay.  Daisy reaches up again, carefully squeezing May's hand.

"I know," May says before Daisy has time to wonder. "I know,"

she doesn't want to say it. she can't say it. Fitz  ~~the Doctor~~ he, he was her friend. all this time, he'd understood  _(was it always an act)_

> You're different now. And there's nothing wrong with that.

greater good? necessary. but it was him saying that, him with the scalpel to her neck....him

May squeezes again.

fitz. it was fitz. it was the framework again, the doctor, that Leopold, powers, gravitonium, closed the rift but the damage was done, powers, powers, loop... may drapes a blanket over daisy's shoulders, gently takes the tablet,   _this is not your fault._

should have left me

Don't you dare say that. We're not giving up on you.

but the earth...the future.

"Screw that. Screw that future." A future where Phil dies, where you're never seen again? Humans are lab rats for the Kree? Fuck that future! May set both hands on Daisy's shoulders. "We are going to take care of this. We're going to take care of you."

 


	2. how much more love this heart can lose

Simmons stared into the distance as she waited for May to come back from Daisy. 

"It's all cleaned up," Deke tossed the rag in the bucket. "Man, it's so weird, all the stuff you guys have cleaning. And it all smells. Like, good smells." He held up the disinfectant. "Fresh Spring Breeze? Is that an actual smell? Like, I've heard about seasons, but I never knew they had smells? What were the other ones again? Winter....summer...trip.."

"Fall."

"Excuse me?"

"Fall, or autumn. Not trip."

"Right.... why fall?"

"Because that's what leaves do....leaves, you know, the green things on trees. Of course, they're not green in the autumn; they turn all sorts of colors, red and orange and yellow--"

"I know what leaves are."

"Right, of course you do, it's just..."  Simmons shook her head. 

May walked into sight.

"How's Daisy doing?"

"Calmer. We're probably going to need another set of gauntlets, but that can wait. You two alright?" May noticed the bucket of water. "Doing some clean up?"

"Yeah, I kind of--" Simmons blushed. 

"Threw up," Deke finished. 

"No injuries, though?"

"Not physically. Fitz-the Doctor--whoever--he didn't want to hurt us, or at least that's what he said. Just wanted us out of the way.  Mack took him to one of the cells, but's he's with Elena now. Mack, that is." Simmons bit her lip. "I should probably check on her."

"That can wait. I'm sure Mack will call if there's any problems. And you?"

"I told you,  I just threw up. Stress, probably."

"That's not what I'm asking.  What Fitz did--"

"It wasn't Fitz." Simmon's voice jumped an octave. "It wasn't him. It was the fear dimension. It broke through and formed some sort of bond with the Framework, it.... I don't know, maybe it goes back to his oxygen deprivation, but it was some kind of psychotic split, he wasn't himself, he wasn't he couldn't be, that's not Fitz, that's not the man I married...."

"I don't know yet. I'm going to have to talk with him." May clenched her teeth. "And it won't just be words."

"May, don't--you can't--he didn't--" 

"He hurt one of my agents."

"Agents? Is that all this means to you, agents? Daisy's my friend, May! And Fitz is my husband! And Deke's grand--"

"Deke's what?" May interrupted.

"Deke...he's...he's my, no he's our... he's," Simmons gestured for him to continue.

"I'm their grandson." 

May stared at him. "Get out."

"The ring--the stories--"

"I mean it. Leave."

"But--"

"We can talk about this later.  I don't care if you empty the pantry or take a nap or rotate all the crates on floor 26 ninety degrees to the left.  Get out."

Deke backed out of the corridor, still watching May.

May watched him go. "You believe him?"

"He knows things--things...he says his mom told him stories." Simmons laughed. "His mom! I've been married less than a week and it turns out I've been working alongside my grandson for a month. And he's not that much younger than I am.  He could even be older! I know we've dealt with some seriously weird shit recently but I didn't think time travel would turn us into Doctor Who!"

"He could be lying."

"Don't you think I know that? I'm planning to run some tests, but I'm not even sure if we have the right equipment here. And since he's our grandson and not just our son, the markers will be shifted; it's not impossible, we have enough samples for Fitz and me, but I'll need some from Deke as well. Plus there might be incidental damage from his living conditions and whatever experiments the Kree conducted..."

"If he's telling the truth."

"I think he is. Why would he make up something like that? And it makes sense."

"Does it?"

  
"Yes,  maybe he's why we ended up when we did. A biological anchor of sorts, making it easier to coordinate the time jump. It's purely theoretical, of course, but many studies have posited the need for a tethering point, to account for the earth's physical drift over time. And with the planet destroyed, linking to a person would provide a greater sense of stability, particularly one who has a limited range."

"Simmons..." May sighed. "Do you hear what you're saying? Do you really believe any of it?"

"I want to. "  Simmons confessed.  "Deke said his mom used to tell stories about her dad. About how clever he was, about how much he loved her.  And if that's true--if that happens, if somewhere out there, that already happened--that means Fitz and I still have a chance. That this whole mess isn't the end. That we get through this somehow."

"I don't bank on mystical properties or future legends. I depend on what I know. And one thing I know is that you and Fitz belong together.  You've been inseparable for years.  And I don't see that changing now." 

"Doesn't mean I won't kick his ass for this," May added after a moment. "But I promise to leave him in one piece."

"Was that you trying to be nice?"

"I don't do nice. Did it it make you feel better?"

"A little," Simmons admitted.

"Than sure, call it me being nice."

 


End file.
